'NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-Keene State jumped out to an early lead, led 50-29 at halftime, and went on to defeat the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's women's basketball team, 85-62, in a Little East Conference game at the Tripp Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

The Owls used a 10-2 run to take a 27-13 lead with 6:57 left in the first half, then scored 23 points in the final 6:49 before intermission.

The Corsairs fought back late in the game, scoring the final nine points on a lay-up by sophomore guard Ashley Chard (Burlington, CT/St.Paul HS), a jump shot by freshman guard Amanda Poniatowski (Shelton, CT/Bunnell HS), and five free throws.

Keene State made 48.6 per cent of their shots from the field in the first half, and shot 43.8 per cent for the game. UMass Dartmouth out rebounded the Owls, 44-39, but committed 24 turnovers and shot 33.9 per cent.

Chard led all scorers with 18 points, Poniatowski added 13, and junior center Vasiliki Palantzas (Brockton, MA/Brockton HS) had a double double with 11 points and an equal number of rebounds. Bri Barnes led Keene State with 13 points, Jenn Kinney and Sarah Begnoche each had 11, and Kristin Degou added 10.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 4-15, 0-9 in the Little East Conference with the defeat, while KSC improved to 14-5 and 7-2 with the victory. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Plymouth State next Saturday afternoon in the first game of a Little East Conference doubleheader, while the Owls will also play again next Saturday when they host UMass Boston.